Dead and Forgotten
by itshaya
Summary: After she loses everyone and everything she loves, knowing there's no one else she can trust. Kathryn discovers she must cope with the zombie apocalypse on her own and after a struggle she finally finds a safe haven, a sanctuary with good people surrounding her. But she and her group encounter more troubles that she expect.
1. Chapter 1

I clasp my hands together and blow on them in attempt to get warmth, but my body lacks the ability of producing heat. My muscles are stiff and tight against the cold, motionless as the ground beneath me. I try to persuade myself to move, that if a pack of biters appear at any minute I will only be able to live long enough to suffer the feeling of having them feed on my flesh. I know I should get up, work the stiffness and get moving to find shelter before the sun goes down. But instead I stay on the ground.

The sky begins to get dimmer and I only watch as the darkness drags me into the time of day that tormented me the most. My chest tightens at the thought of how dark it's getting and having biters crawl all over me in the dead of the night, it all flashes through my head in an instant as the pale moonlight bore me into threat.

A guttural animal sound comes from behind one of the trees near me, I stand up almost too quickly and my head starts to spin for a few seconds. I point my weapon towards the source of the sound. I know for sure that a pair of scissors won't do the job if it's a herd, but I can't risk wasting another bullet and the sound will only bring more of them.

The biter began to creep towards me slower than a usual one does. My nose wrinkles in disgust at the sight of its missing arm and blood-soaked clothing. I watch as the biter crosses to the tree where I stand, and when its only two feet away I stab my scissor into its skull, killing it instantly

It falls face forward, his head could've fell straight onto my boots and poured its brains all over them but I step back before it does. I kneel forward a little bit in attempt to get my scissor back, but it's stabbed too deep into its brains that the thought of even touching it makes me sick to my stomach.

I turn around and scan the area, it's too early to go to sleep and too late to go on a scavenging trip so I walk a few yards away from the biter that's lying next to last night's campfire and settle in for the night.

The place is quiet so I start another fire as the night approaches; I count the number of matches left in the matchbox before making a final decision. Five matches left for five nights, and then I'm going to have to look for more supplies or else I might die freezing. I use the pile of firewood and rocks I collected the night before to create a new hearth, I slip a small piece of cloth in between the wood to guarantee the fire will start and then throw a match in and start a fire. I sit before the hearth and warm myself.

My stomach growls, consequently I grab my backpack that's filled with supplies; one change of clothes, canned food, a bottle of water and an empty flask along with my handgun and the twelve bullets I have left. I get the flask out first, then pour water into it and place it on top of the fire; I sit there staring gloomily into the fire as I wait for the water to boil

I pour some into an empty soup can that I recycled and now pretend it's a legitimate mug; I usually have it hanging by a thread that is wrapped around my backpack's zipper. I drink the hot water, trying to remember the taste of hot tea in my mouth. Then using a knife I open one of the soup cans and gulp it all in less than a minute.

After I'm done feeding and warming myself, I stash all my things into my backpack, leaving the empty can on the ground, if I'm lucky enough I'll wake up in the morning to a squirrel feeding on what's left of the soup and I'll be able to have a much more nutritious dinner.

Worried a biter might overrun my little camp and feed on me; I put out the fire and choose the nearest tree to climb, I know for sure they can't climb or jump so I'm safe for the night. I make my way up, staying close to the trunk; I picked the widest branch to lie on and cling on the trunk and test the branch's weight capacity, my judgments are confirmed and I'm good for the night. I hang my backpack on the nearest branch and secure it and myself with a rope.

After clearing my doubts, I adjust my resting position and stare up at the sky until my body shuts down and it does momentarily.

I wake up after what feels like an hour later to a mildly loud noise, I don't know whether I'm hallucinating or just desperate. But it doesn't stop for a couple of minutes and I know there's someone out there. The crunching hits my ear and before I can untie the rope to check it out, they're standing right below me, and when I look downwards I realize that they're only less than four feet apart from the branch where I sit so I force myself to hold my ground.

"What are you doing?" I hear someone sputter. I swallow nervously as I try to get a glimpse.

"You told me to go check it out." A rough voice responds and I haul into a sitting position, I watch the two men as they both contemplate over the fire that is still belching white smoke.

"What?" The other's voice gets as low as a whisper.

"This was your idea, to go check it out, the campfire, that one over there." One points at last nights fire and they both head to check it out. They are both far enough for me to climb down without being seen. "This one's older than that one. That one has been put out only a couple of hours ago." He points.

I sit up and untangle the rope that's securing my supplies and keeping my stuff and myself from falling. I look around hoping that these people won't see me. You can't trust anyone or be sure that people won't kill you for food and supplies.

The two men start to get closer to my tree and they surround it, examining the place and searching for tracks. I look closely with my eyes-wide open as one of them crouches before my hearth and the other goes to see the dead biter. I glare at them when they near enough for me to see what they look like. They both have dark hair; one of them wears a baseball hat and looks scrawny and young. The other –the one who's crouched before the fire– is wearing a biker's jacket and has a crossbow slung over his shoulder. They have flashlights and heavy weaponry dangling on their shoulders. I'm guessing they have a camp and plenty of supplies.

They look intimidating and I made the decision not to approach them. But one of them suddenly held the flash light up near my tree. I curl along with my things and try to hide, but the branch I lie on starts to shake and screeches, the guy with the biker's jacket points his crossbow at my direction.

"Could be a squirrel." The guy with the hat proposes. "Or maybe it's Sophia. Let's just make sure she isn't up there."

The other guy lets out a sigh, "Sophia!" He calls out and waits. I try to remain silent. "I don't think Sophia's up there, the tree is too high, there aren't enough branches to support her weight." He drops his cross bow and walks closer to the tree and holds up a flashlight. "Sophia!" He hollers again.

"There's someone up there?" The scrawny one asks in a delighted tone.

The bowman doesn't respond and instead holds the flashlight in his mouth and start climbing up the tree. I quickly untie the rope and try to jump down the tree but he grabs my ankles and prevents me from getting away so I hit him square in the jaw with my free foot and we both fall. I let out a groan when my back hits the ground with a jolt of pain that goes right up my spine and as I struggle to get up the heavy bag falls on my head creating a small gash on the side of my face. I push it aside and scramble to my feet and when I look up I see a crossbow and a gun pointed at my direction.

I pull out a knife and extend my arm in a threatening manner as I back away slowly to get a hold of my bag, when I get to it I see that all of its contents are thrown onto the ground including the handgun. I get a hold of the gun and then look up to find the tip of an arrow inches away from my face.

"Put down the pistol." the bowman orders.

The man with the hat looks uncertain and puts down his rifle, but doesn't try to talk his friend out of it. I shake my head, declining.

"Daryl, just ask her if she's seen Sophia. That's what we came out here for." The skinny Asian guy says.

I glance sideways and start to plan my escape, it's dark and the woods are covered in heavy greenery but I don't know what these people are capable of. "I don't know who Sophia is." I say.

They exchange glances and I run a split second after they take their eyes off of me. I leave my bag and only get away with the gun, my knife and jacket and disappear into the woods. Even though it's dark and I'm running as fast as I can, the two are right behind me and only within a shooting distance, but they don't shoot.

"Stop!" They yell as they chase me across the woods. "Stop or we'll shoot!" I don't stop and continue running deeper into the woods. I don't hesitate to pause so to catch a breath and run until I end up in the middle of nowhere.


	2. Chapter 2

The half-moon glimmers high up in the sky, I scan my surroundings for a moment to make sure no one is around. Nothing. When I know the place is safe I walk towards the nearest rock and plunge onto it with a sigh. I hold the gun in my hand. My finger shakes against the trigger like I'm hyperventilating.

That's when Daryl jumps me over. He thrusts his crossbow in my direction in attempt to knock me out, but I dodge it and throw a knife at him. He bellows a curse when it cuts his forearm. It causes enough distraction for me to get away but I don't get too far.

"N-n-no." I mutter but it's too late. The arrow shoots straight into my shoulder and blood begins to soak my clothes. I can see the tip of the arrow that just went in-and-through my shoulder and start to panic.

I realize I'm lying face-forward on a pile of leaves as the pain gets to me and I let out a painful moan. I'm breathing rapidly, my head throbs and my back aches so much I'm not sure I can get back on my feet any time soon.

He slurs a curse under his breath, steps in and crouches beside me. "Glenn!" He calls out for his friend. "Glenn I just shot her!" The scrawny guy appears a few seconds later.

"Is she dead?" He asks. Concerned, Glenn walks closer to see for himself. I can see him swallowing his disappointment. "Why did you think this was a good idea?" He asks.

Daryl turns around and throws him an angry glare. "She might know where Sophia is." He insists.

"Why are you so sure I know where your girlfriend is?" I ask in between breaths.

He leans in closer and I can clearly see his facial features, I can even see the reflection of my eyes in his blue ones. Daryl takes a good look at me and furrows his eyebrows as he does. "She isn't my girlfriend, she's just a little girl." He grabs the arrow that's stabbed into my shoulder and tries to gently take it out but I let out a shriek that makes him think twice about it.

"Don't. She'll only bring more walkers by screaming like that." Glenn says as he comes closer. "Listen, if you could just tell us if you've seen this girl. Her name is Sophia she's eleven, maybe twelve years old. Short blonde hair."

I stare at him in a loathing approach and grit my teeth as I do. "You just shot me, with an arrow!" I yell in anger.

"Just tell us, please. And if you help us we'll get you to a doctor." Glenn suggests. He tries to negotiate but it doesn't work.

I let out another moan as I try to sit up. "Thanks I think I'll do just fine on my own." I can feel the warm blood soaking the sleeve of my shirt. I try my best not to let out another shriek and instead I let out a less noisy cry. "Plus, I haven't seen a living kid in more than a month." I try to remove the arrow myself but its buried too deep. My breathing picks up and I know I'm losing too much blood.

"I don't think that's going to work." Glenn says, discouraging me to pull out the arrow myself. "We should take her to Hershel." He turns to Daryl who disapproves of the idea.

Daryl rolls his eyes, "We don't know her Glenn, and we can't just bring anyone to Hershel, that guy's a hard-ass. Hell, he might even throw us out if we bring another wounded person to his farm." He says.

"Well, we can't just leave her here." Glenn argues.

"Hell yeah we can."

"She could still know where Sophia is." He adds in my defense.

I extend my intact arm to reach out for anything that might be used as a weapon and the only thing I find is a broken twig, sharp enough to cause minor damage, but if I could go for the eyes I'll probably be able to cause enough distraction to get to my gun. I grab the twig but before I can wrap my fingers around it, Daryl steps on my wrist.

"Stop trying to get yourself killed." He says and looks at me smugly. He doesn't step off my wrist.

He calls out Glenn. He obeys, steps forward and looks down at me with pity.

"Hold her down, from her wrists, right here." He commands his friend. I try to wriggle out of his grip but it only causes more pain in my shoulder.

Glenn didn't seem to agree with that thought but he did it anyway. "What are you going to do?" He asks.

"What does it look like I'm doing; I'm getting my arrow back." He replies. "Can't waste any more arrows."

I look up at Daryl and give a faint shriek, "No, please." I say in a petrified tone. "Please don't do this, I'll bleed out." I feel sickened and terrified.

He exchanges glances with his friend and nods, but before I can say anything else I feel the arrow as they rips it out of my flesh. My body reacts before my mind does and I involuntarily scream from the top of my lungs. The blood is pouring profusely from my shoulder and arm and I begin to lose the sensation of my feet.

I stop crying, my voice is almost gone, my muscles relax and my heart rate slows down. The thought of being left alone in the woods and getting eaten by biters has me quivering with fear.

I try to speak but choke on my own words. I never thought I'd beg for my life. But they both walk away; only stop once to look back at what they did. The sound brings more biters and they start to get closer to me, I hear their deadly moans as they advance towards me. I try to rest my palm against the ground and force myself to straighten up but my head feels too heavy and I can't balance my body but stand up eventually.

Glenn turns around, glances at me nervously and pauses for a moment as if he's deciding something, then he double backs to me. His friend's head snaps to the side and he clenches his fists in anger before striding behind Glenn and into the tick of the argument, "She's as good as dead, we can't help her."

"We did this to her!" Glenn exclaims, before he gently grabs my undamaged shoulder and pulls me back on my feet. My legs are wobbly and I almost fall again but Glenn puts my arm around his neck and wraps his arm around my waist. "Try to run as fast as you can, alright?"

I nod.

Surprisingly, Daryl heads to grab my things and rushes behind us, killing a few biters as he follows Glenn and I to their camp. I keep trying to inhale and exhale slowly to prevent myself from fainting or being sick.

It feels as if we have been running for miles before a barn comes into sight and wherever I look there were fences and plenty of greenery, a house with lit lights comes into view then starts to get blurry. We run rapidly for a while before I force Glenn to stop, we both stagger.

As we get closer to the farm, Glenn slows down our pace and Daryl picks up his to open up a gate, and as we get in Glenn drops everything he has been carrying and lets me lean on him, I don't hesitate to stop when I feel the need to lie down. I lean my head forward a bit and throw up all the canned soup.

"She can't go on much longer." Glenn informs Daryl.

Daryl and Glenn exchange looks and then Daryl take my weight off of Glenn. I don't think about it before I shift my weight to him. "Go tell Rick and the others to hurry." He yells.

Glenn nods and starts running towards the house and I see him approach blurry silhouettes of his people. A couple of his group members start to run towards Daryl and I, while the others rush back inside the house.

I barely keep my head up and I can no longer stand on my feet, even with all my weight against Daryl. I find myself continuously collapsing on the grass before Daryl pulls me back up, he would've fallen on top of me but he stands his ground. I hear him curse again as he pulls me back on my feet for the third time, "Just a little further." He says encouragingly.

He puts my arm around his neck and holds my wrist to keep me from falling again. He wraps his other arm around my waist and pulls me up; his grip grows tighter as I begin to lose the feeling in my limbs. There's obviously no use of making me walk all the way to the house and I'm not in a condition where I can stand on my feet, so Daryl reaches his free hand to the back of my knees and carries me the rest of the way. I'm only conscious enough to be aware of the voices that surround me. I can't see anything except a bright yellow light and then everything turns dark, worse than the darkness of night.


End file.
